1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the art of electrical coupling and more particularly to devices which provide strain relief for electrical connectors.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
Electrical devices, such as laptop computers, often contain externally accessible terminals configured to transmit or receive data to or from external devices via data cables. Data terminals and cables are often electrically connected together for data transmission via cable connectors interfacing therebetween.
Cable connectors are well-known in the art and are available in a variety of sizes and shapes. In addition to serving as an interface between terminals and data transmission cables, cable connectors serve to secure cable coupling. To this end, some cable connectors are provided with coupling hardware which releasably engages mating structure provided at the data terminal. Typically, the coupling hardware includes clips, screws, or other types of fasteners. Once cable connectors are coupled or "plugged" into data terminals, the coupling hardware generally guards against decoupling therefrom. However, certain types of connectors, e.g., PC cards, do not include coupling hardware.
Often times, electrical devices such as laptop computers are used in field experiments for acquiring data generated by external devices, also in the field. The generated data is often transmitted to terminals of the data acquisition device via PC cards. For example the auto industry uses laptop computers to collect data generated by sensing devices which sense operational parameters of an internal combustion engine within a moving automobile. Mechanical forces such as vibrational effects associated with the moving automobile, can cause the PC card to decouple from a data input terminal. Obviously once decoupled, the laptop computer acting as a data acquisition device, can no longer collect data.
Thus, the prior art technique of using screws, clips, or other fasteners to secure cable connecters, often does not provide enough coupling effect to withstand the forces associated with field data collection. Furthermore, many prior art connectors are provided with no coupling hardware to secure engagement with a data input terminal.